"I am not a pastor, a therapist, or a scholar. I don't have a string of letters after my name, and I sure don't have all the answers. But I know what the woodchipper feels like."
When Ryan Pultz watched his world burn to the ground, he didn't find comfort in sanitized Christian clich�s or polished Sunday school theology. He found it in the raw, gritty reality of the dirt.
After losing his wife of twenty-three years to metastatic breast cancer, Ryan was left to navigate a "wifeless house" as a solo father to an autistic son, hauling his battered life two thousand miles from Oregon to the unforgiving winters of Michigan. This isn't a book about getting "over" grief; it's a survival guide for those still bleeding in their Sunday best.
Through the haze of cigar smoke on the front porch and the adrenaline-fueled drops of 300-foot roller coasters, Ryan explores the hard-fought lessons of:
- The Permanent Limp: Why healing doesn't mean returning to who you were, but embracing the blessing in the dislocation.
- The Anchor Chain: Dropping the dead weight of survivor's guilt and self-condemnation.
- Friendly Fire: Surviving the well-meaning but hollow platitudes of the church lobby.
- The Theology of the Lift Hill: Finding God's presence in the noise, the grit, and the heavy metal breakdowns of life.
In the Dirt with the Master Builder is a battle cry for the misfits, the outcasts, and the brokenhearted. It's an invitation to stop faking "fine," wash off the sad clown makeup, and trust the Master Builder who is currently renovating your soul from the ruins up.
Grab a cup of coffee, light up a cigar, and pull up a chair. You aren't walking through this valley alone.
Pultz, Ryan: -
RYAN PULTZ is a man whose life has been forged in the crucibles of the California Central Valley, the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest, and the high-speed inversions of the Midwest. Born into a world of chaos and raised by his grandparents-founding members of a small Baptist church-Ryan's journey has never been a straight line. From a troubled youth to a radical encounter with God at thirteen that pulled him back from the brink of despair, he has spent over thirty-five years living at the intersection of grit and faith.
A veteran promoter and manager in the music industry, Ryan has spent decades in the dark venues and loud soundchecks where the gospel often gets its hands dirty. He spent twenty-three years building a life in Portland, Oregon, with the love of his life, Joyce, and their son, Daniel. During that season, he waged a successful, brutal war for his own health, losing over 200 pounds and reclaiming his life from the shell of a 400-pound man.
In 2022, after a fierce battle with metastatic breast cancer, Ryan watched his navigator go home to the Lord. Left as a solo father to an autistic son, he made the terrifying leap of faith to pack up his life, his Jeep, and a pack of rescue animals to move two thousand miles to Battle Creek, Michigan.
Today, Ryan is the owner of RP Consulting Group, a dedicated solo dad, and a chronic "coaster enthusiast" who has ridden over 300 roller coasters across the country. Whether he's hiking twenty miles deep into the wilderness, managing social media campaigns, or sitting on his front porch with a fine cigar and a heavy metal record, Ryan remains an honest, scarred witness to the Master Builder's grace. He writes from the dirt, leaving his porch light on for the next guy who needs to find their way through the smoke.
